Police urge retailers to be on the lookout for counterfeit bills

MANCHESTER - Police urge retailers to be vigilant in checking currency after three incidents of counterfeit bills being passed at local stores in the city.

On Wednesday afternoon, a young woman tried to use a fake $100 bill to buy some items at Bunny's Superette, 75 Webster St. The clerk recognized it was counterfeit and questioned the customer about it.

Police said the woman acknowledged it was a fake and then left the store, leaving the $100 bill behind. The woman is described as in her late teens, about 5-foot-5 and weighing 160 pounds with long, reddish hair.

She was last seen leaving in a light blue Dodge with a tall man, also in his late teens.

Another man, Brandon Ross, 22, of Manchester, was arraigned in Ninth Circuit Court, Manchester District Division, Wednesday morning on charges related to using counterfeit money to purchase items at A&A Market, 540 Hall St. Ross, already in custody on an unrelated robbery charge, was charged with two counts of forgery and two counts of theft by deception.

On Feb. 8, police say he went to the market and twice, within a short period of time, bought items with counterfeit currency.

Police said Ross used a counterfeit $100 bill to buy items valued at $10.85, receiving the remaining $89.15 in cash. A short time later, he returned to the store and bought a bag of chips for $1.09 and paid for it with a counterfeit $50 bill, receiving $48.91 in change.